Postal packet



(ModeL) A. ROBINSON.

POSTAL PACKET. No. 374,204. Patented .Dec. 6, 1887...

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35 71 flay.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY ADDISON ROBINSON, OF FOXOROFT, MAINE.

POSTAL PACKET.

SPECIPICATIGN forming part of Letters Patent No. 374,204, dated December 6, 1887. Application filed August 27, 1887. Serial No. 248.022. (Modeh) To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY ADDISON R013- INSON, of Foxcroft, in the county of Piscataquis, in the State of Maine, have invented new and useful Improvements in Postal Packets, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a postal packet which is in some respects an improvement on Letters Patent of the United States No. 333,890, granted to me January 5, 1886, and is particularly adapted for the transportation of liquids through the mails.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters of referenceindicate like parts, Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a postal packet embodying my invention. longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of a portion, showing the bail pushed to one side and the head swung open. Fig. 4 is a perspective View of a portion, showing a modification.

In this invention the tube or body and bottom of the packet are made, preferably,of wood and in a single piece, the sides A and end B being usually about three-sixteenths of an inch in thickness. While the shape of the tube may be square, elliptical, or of other convenient form, a cylindrical shape is preferred, the interior being removed by boring. The head 0 is also preferably of wood and of the rabbeted shape shown and described particularly in the Letters Patent above referred to.

As my invention is especially constructed for the reception and transportation of liquids in bottles, I render the packet proof against the escapeof liquids issuing from bottles accidentally broken by saturating the wood and filling the pores thereof with paraffine, wax, glue, or analogous substance impervious to liquids, so that the packet is practically liquidproof. As the grain of the wood is longitudinal with the packet, the end and head receive the greatest benefit from the saturating or filling process; but I propose to fill the sides also if it is deemed desirable. If the packet be made of other material than wood, one portion would probably be as much benefited as another by the said process. The headO should, of course, be accurately fitted, so as to act as a stopper and prevent leakage at that point.

I provide in this improvement a hinge, D,

Fig. 2 is a made, preferably, of some textile fabric and glued or otherwise suitably attached to the body A and head 0, as shown, whereby the latter may be prevented from becoming detached and lost. Furthermore, in place of the wire bail described in said Letters Patent, which must be contracted by twisting, in order to hold the cover in place when closed,,Iprovide the bail E, of textile fabric, thin metal, or other suitable material, and attached near its ends, by tacks e or other suitable means, to 0pposite sides of the packet, said bail beingjust long enough to he slipped over the head 0 and bear snugly thereupon, thus holding said head tightly down into and against the packet. This bail may be held in place over the head by its own friction; or it may be centrally slitted at E and slipped over a knob, H, (whose head is larger in diameter than its neck,) attached centrally to the head 0, so that said knob may lie in the slit; or it may be slightly stretched and laid between two knobs, H, as shown in the modificationillustrated in Fig. 4.. When a metal bail is employed, the slit is widened at its center, to enable it to slip over the knob H. In any case the head is firmly secured. The knob may be driven into the head or may be integral with it.

I desire it to be understood that I do not merely coat the interior of my packet or any part thereof withliquid-proof material; but I thoroughly saturate or fill the pores of the wood, as above specified.

In practice, when about to mail the packet,

I usually thoroughly wrap the same or incase it in a packet of larger size of any desired construction.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a tubular postal packet, the combination of the body A, rabbeted head O, provided with the knob H, and snugly-fitting bail E, provided centrally with the slit E and secured near its ends to opposite sides of the body, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

HENRY ADDISON ROBINSON.

\Vitnesses:

ELMER E. COLE, LEONARD H. RoBINsoN. 

